Gibbs hit the steering wheel in frustration as he sat in the unmoving traffic on the I-495. He was losing precious time and he wasn’t sure exactly how much time DiNozzo had left. The thoughts of his senior field agent, his son, in the hands of the maniacal Jason Miller turned his stomach. Ever since he had left Rock Creek Park, it had been a constant struggle to keep his nausea at bay; his highly agitated state as well as the probably concussion that he had suffered earlier at the hands of DiNozzo, had only served to exacerbate the sick feeling in his gut.
“Come on, come on,” he muttered under his breath, knowing that his desperate pleas would do nothing to force the cars in front of him to move.
He blew out a pent up breath and laid his head back against the headrest, his thoughts once again turning to his senior agent. Gibbs knew that Tony had acted out of concern for Kate; the possibility that Miller would hurt her weighed heavily on the younger man’s mind, prompting him to take matters in his own hands. Memories of the torment that Jason Miller had inflicted on Tony’s wife and unborn child had driven the young man to find Kate before she ended up suffering the same fate. The former Marine couldn’t blame DiNozzo for his actions; he would have done the same thing.
The blaring horns of the other irritated drivers brought him back to his present reality as the traffic started to slowly move forward. “It’s about time. Should’ve taken the back roads.”
The cars in front of him continued to move painstakingly slow, making him doubt that he would be able to maintain his sanity if he had to stay in this traffic much longer. His cell phone began to ring, interrupting his thoughts of committing vehicular homicide. Glancing at the caller ID, he sighed and flipped it open. “Abs,” he greeted.
“Whoa. That’s kind of weird. Why’d you call yourself Abs?” the Goth began to ramble. “Usually you answer and say Gibbs, but this time you didn’t. So am I supposed to say Gibbs or…”
“What do you need, Abby?’ he asked, purposefully articulating each word in hopes that she would take the hint that he wasn’t in the best of moods without him having to become too firm with her. If Tony was his son, Abby was like a daughter to him and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings.
Obviously, she didn’t take offense to his tone because she quickly began spouting off questions that demanded answers. “Did you find him? Did you find Tony? What about Kate? Is she all right?”
“Kate’s fine,” he assured her. “We were too late to get to Tony. Miller’s got him.”
He could envision the panic stricken expression on Abby’s face. “Gibbs, we’ve got to find him.”
She was right. Finding Tony was the only option at this point. “We will, Abs. Kate gave us a good description on the car and McGee put a BOLO out on it. We’ll find him.”
“What can I do?” she wanted to know.
“Monitor the BOLO until McGee gets there,” he instructed. “He’s taking Kate to the hospital.”
“Is she all right?”
“Just precautionary,” Gibbs assured her. “She’s just shaken up.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine how scared she was. She was there with the guy who murdered Tony’s family. He’s a complete psycho.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Abby,” he growled. The team leader regretted the sharpness of his tone as soon as he spoke his words. Abby didn’t deserve his anger; Jason Miller was the one that deserved his wrath and when he found the bastard, his fury would be unleashed.
“You’ll find him Gibbs,” Abby stated with confidence.
“I hope you’re right, Abs. I can’t go through that again.”
There was a slight pause. “Go through what again?”
Realizing his impromptu slip of the tongue, he quickly changed the subject. Now was not the time for him to dredge up his past. The death of his wife and daughter was something that very few people knew about and had remained buried until recently. Apparently Tony’s demons had stirred up a few of his own.
“Let me know if you get anything on the BOLO.”
He snapped his phone shut and continued driving in the stop and go pattern of traffic, still uncertain where he was headed. Gibbs didn’t want to sit around and wait for something to happen, especially since he couldn’t shake the feeling that time was the one luxury Tony didn’t have.
“You better not be dead when I find you, DiNozzo.”
Once again, he was forced to stop as the woman in the car in front of him decided she was in the wrong lane and decided to halt traffic and wait for an opening in the next lane. Glancing over he noticed Tony’s cell phone lying in the floorboard. “Ah, DiNozzo.” He turned it on and started perusing through his last calls. It could be a dead end, but he was willing to follow every lead until he found one that would lead him to his missing agent. “You hang in there, DiNozzo. If I know you, you left a bread crumb or something. Just give us time to figure it out.”
Tony was a good agent, truthfully one of the best that he had ever worked with. DiNozzo hadn’t taken the phone with him, more than likely a condition of the trade, but he had left it where Gibbs would be sure to find it. The team leader reached up and delivered head slap to the back of his head. Why hadn’t he seen the phone earlier?
He placed the phone in his pocket as his lane started moving once again. He saw his chance to exit up ahead and with expert precision he cut between two cars and down the ramp. Now he could head back to NCIS and begin to work on the only true lead they had. The team leader just prayed that Tony could survive the torment that Jason Miller seemed hell bent on inflicting on his son.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“…You are in hell.”
Jason Miller’s words echoed inside Tony’s aching head. He felt as if his skull had been nailed to the floor; the slightest movement sent waves of agony radiating down his spine through the bare soles of his bloody feet. He had a feeling that by the time Miller was through with him, hell would be a welcome relief. The thought of dying had been tempting, but it wasn’t in him to give up so easily. He didn’t cherish the thought of meeting Sydney in the great beyond and having to explain why he allowed Jason Miller to get the best of him.
He winced as he swallowed, desperate for a drink to quench his parched throat. Tony knew he was more than likely going into shock and he couldn’t allow that to happen. He had to stay sharp and focused long enough for Gibbs to find him. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the team leader would find him; he just wasn’t sure what condition he would be in when the former Marine came busting through the door.
“So, who’s this Gibbs guy you keep talking about?”
Tony smiled at the sound of his beloved wife’s voice. It had been a long time since he had heard her voice. After she died, he would lay at night and carry on conversations with his wife, initially working through his grief and then their ‘conversations’ would turn to more mundane subjects like his upcoming games and other decisions that he had been forced to make alone. She had always been with him, but after several years, their nighttime ponderings became few and far between until her voice had completely faded.
He knew that she was merely a figment of his imagination, but at the moment her voice was keeping him from losing his mind.
“You’d like him, Syd,” he whispered. “He doesn’t…let me feel sorry for...myself. Sometimes I wonder…if you two are…distant kin.”
“I don’t think so. I think I’d remember a relative named Jethro.”
“He’s had my…six for almost…four years. Gibbs has taught me…a lot.”
“Including how to survive?” she inquired.
Tony shook his head, pain dancing across his features at the slight movement. “No, you... taught me…that.”
“You’ve always been a survivor, Tony.”
He could almost feel her brushing his sweat soaked hair off his forehead. “I don’t know…about that.”
“I do. I know you, Tony. You’re a survivor and you’ll survive this,” she vowed. “Besides it’s not your time.”
“Are you sure…about that?” he questioned. “Kind…of feels like my…time.”
“No, it’s not. You have to hang on.”
Tony felt a tear escape down his cheek. The pain that he was now experiencing wasn’t from his physical wounds; there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the agony overwhelming him was coming from his bleeding heart. “But we…could…be…together again,” he rasped. “Me, you, and Sean.”
“I know, baby. But I can’t take you away from the people who need you now. We’ll be together someday; I promise,” she vowed. “For now, just fight. If not for yourself, do it for me.”
“Please don’t ask…me to do…that,” he cried. “I want…to be…with you. I can’t…lose you again.”
“You haven’t lost me, Tony. I’ve always been in your heart.”
“If you…go…I might…forget…your voice…again. I don’t…want that to…happen.”
“You didn’t forget me; you just haven’t had to think about me in a long time. You’ve moved on, which is exactly what Sean and I wanted you to do. Now, I’m begging you to let go of the past and fight for your future.”
He continued to weep as she urged him to fight with everything he had. Tony knew he had no choice but to honor her wishes; he had failed her once and he refused to do so again. “For you.”
“Thank you, Tony. I love you so much.”
“Love you,” he whispered. “Where’s…Sean? Can I…talk to him?”
Tony began to panic at what seemed like an eternity of silence. Had Sydney left him? Had he pressed his luck by asking to hear his son’s voice?
“Hey. Dad!”
His body was wracked with guttural sobs at the sound of his son’s voice. He rolled on his side and wrapped his trembling arms around his frame. “Sean.”
“Dad, are you okay?”
“I…never…thought…I’d hear…your voice.”
“Mom says I look and sound just like you.”
“Sorry…wish you…could…have…gotten…your mom’s genes…in the looks department.”
“Mom says that when she looks at me, it helps her not to miss you as much. It reminds her of the love you guys had for each other.”
“I see…you…got my brains…” he attempted to joke.
“I don’t think mom agrees with that,” Sean chuckled. “Mom says I have to go now, but I love you and I can’t wait to meet you. I know it will be quite a few years because you have to stay there a little while longer, but that’s okay. I’m willing to share you.”
Tony continued to lay curled up on his side, unable to stop the tears from flowing. He felt a brush against his cheek and he momentarily believed that Sydney had actually kissed him. Resting his fingertips on his cheek face, he smiled at the memory of her passionate kisses. “I…miss…you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Please let me come…with…you,” he pleaded one last time.
“Sean and I will come and get you when it’s time,” she promised. “I have to go now. Remember that we love you.”
“I will.”
Tony blindly reached out as her image started to fade away. “Don’t…go…yet.”
“I have to, Tony. I have to go. There is one more thing though.”
“What?”
“Tell Agent Gibbs that both Shannon and I think he needs to lay off the head slaps. You’re starting to get a bald spot.”
Surprised, he asked, “You’ve met Shannon?”
“Yes,” Sydney replied.
“So, you’ve known who Gibbs…was…all along?”
“I know everything about you,” she reminded him. “Now, the one thing you can do for me is to tell your Boss that Shannon and I both agree that we can wait as long as it takes just as long as we know that you and Jethro have each other’s backs.”
Her voice became silent. “Sydney?” he called out. “Sydney?” Tony hung his head in defeat. She was gone.
The sound of deliberate clapping reverberated in the room. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that he was no longer alone; Jason Miller had returned and was more than likely prepared to try and bring Tony to his knees. “Talking with your dead wife?” his nemesis leered.
Tony swallowed back the bile that had gathered in the back of his throat. Sydney wanted him to fight and he would honor her wish with every fiber of his being. “Yep. It’s a lot better…than…the…conversation…I’m having…now.”
“Always one to have the snappy comeback, aren’t you?”
“Part…of…my charming…personality.”
He could hear Miller’s footsteps coming closer. “Unfortunately for you, it’s the part of your personality that really irritates me to no end.”
“Can’t…please…everybody,” he quipped.
Tony was rewarded with a swift kick to the stomach. He clamped down on his lip to stifle his moan; the agent refused to give Miller the satisfaction of hearing him scream. The words of Sydney played through his mind, cheering him on as he attempted to summon the strength to resist his adversary’s taunts.
“Nice…one,” Tony grunted.
“There are plenty more where that came from.”
Tony hugged himself tighter. “I think…I’ll pass.”
“You don’t have a choice.” This time the kick was to his face, which sent him sprawling across the room.
Wiping the blood now pouring from his nose, he glared at his captor. A shock wave of sheer agony coursed through his body as he shakily stood to his feet. “Is that…all…you’ve got?” Tony shot back.
He charged his tormentor but was rendered helpless when his body made contact with an unseen force. As his body convulsed onto the concrete floor, a primal cry escaped his throat as electricity ran up and down his spine; every single nerve in his body was on fire.
Tremors continued to plague his body as Miller knelt down beside him and roughly placed his ankles in a set of shackles attached to a chain in the wall. The lack of control over his own body terrified him, but he would not let his fear show.
“I really like these tasers; they come in very handy,” Jason sneered, holding up the tiny hand held device. It was a amazing that something so small could inflict so much pain.
Tony couldn’t summon the energy to manage a sarcastic comeback. He couldn’t even manage to utter a groan. Miller grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head back until he was staring into his hate filled eyes. “This is only the beginning,” he warned. “I want you to think about what all you took away from me. Sydney…”
“Don’t…you…even…say her name,” Tony gasped. “She…was…never…yours.”
As he was unceremoniously shoved to the ground, Tony welcomed the cool relief of the damp floor. He hoped that it would help quench the flames that were consuming his body before the fire consumed him. Despite the anguish he was experiencing, Tony was forced to breathe a painful sigh of relief when he heard the door open.
“Before it’s all said and done, Tony, you will admit that Sydney loved me more,” Jason declared. “She really never loved you and you will come to see that I’m the one she truly wanted to be with.”
“Not…going…to happen.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He tried to sit up but his body still wasn’t under his command. “You son of a…”
Darkness surrounded Tony as he gave up the battle to stay conscious. His last thought was of the promise that he had made to his wife and how he was determined to keep his word. Tony’s body was already protesting the abuse he had suffered in the few short minutes that Miller had been with him. He shuddered to think about what his enemy had in store for him, but one thing that was for certain; Tony would never deny the love that he and Sydney shared, even if it cost him his soul.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.